Return to Current Case pageCourt of Appeals judge overturns verdict
October 24, 2002 - Source: The Oakland Press
The Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 decision issued Wednesday, threw out the May 7, 1999, award of $29.3 million to the family of Scott Amedure, ruling that the show and its owners had no legal duty to protect Amedure after he revealed a gay crush during the program.
Attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who represented Patricia Graves, the dead man's mother, and her family against the show and its distributors, Warner Bros. and Telepictures, blistered the majority finding. He vowed to appeal to the state Supreme Court.
"It's another example of what I've been saying since Day One," Fieger said. "Not withstanding the talent of (Oakland Circuit) Judge Gene Schnelz and his knowledge of the law, victims in Michigan are faced with a gauntlet of politically appointed judges.
"If you're lucky enough to win in front of a jury, you won't win in front of (the appeals court). They will make up legal gibberish to justify their decision... The injustice is not simply to my clients but to every person in the state. It means, 'If you go to trial and win, we will take it away from you.'"
Graves was not surprised by the court's decision. She learned of it from one of her sons.
"It wasn't all about the money," Graves said Wednesday. "I think it's all political. I just figured if it went one way or the other, I wasn't counting on it. The money wasn't the issue. There was more involved than the money."
Jenny Jones, who testified in both the criminal and civil trials associated with Amedure's death, was pleased with the decision. In a prepared statement, she said she was elated the appeals court agreed the show could not have predicted the murder.
"Scott Amedure's murder was a horrible tragedy, but I have always believed that it was fundamentally wrong and unfair to blame the show," Jones said. "I am thrilled that the Court of Appeals agreed that the show could not possibly have predicted and prevented this brutal crime."
Telepictures President Jim Paratore called the ruling an "important victory" that doesn't diminish the tragedy of Amedure's death.
"We continue to extend our deepest sympathy to the Amedure family for their terrible loss," Paratore said.
"But for seven years, our position consistently and steadfastly has been that the show was not to blame for this brutal murder, and the court today affirmed that the case against us had no legal merit and should have been thrown out of court long before it ever went to trial."
Not everyone shared the show's glee. Allyn Schmitz, whose son Jonathan was convicted of second-degree murder in the slaying, blamed the show for the death.
"Everything revolved around the show," Schmitz said. "Take 'Jenny Jones' out of it and these people would never have come together."
The award came from a wrongful death lawsuit filed against the show and its owners in 1995 shortly after Amedure was killed in his Orion Township mobile home.
The family contended that Jonathan Schmitz, now 32, was ambushed and tricked into believing his secret admirer was a woman. It was Amedure.
Amedure, 32, and Schmitz appeared on the show March 6, 1995, days after Amedure responded to a plug from the show soliciting guests for a show about same-sex secret crushes. Amedure called the show and said he had a crush on Schmitz, who lived in the same Lake Orion apartment complex as Amedure's brother.
Before leaving for the show, Schmitz asked Amedure if he was the secret admirer, but Amedure denied it.
Three days after the taping of the show, Schmitz bought a gun, went to Amedure's mobile home and shot him twice in the chest.
Schmitz called police and then confessed, blaming the show for embarrassing him on national television. The show never aired.
Schmitz, who testimony showed he had a disease that affected his judgment and who had been suicidal, was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 27-50 years in prison. His earliest release date is 2017, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records.
After a six-week civil trial that was broadcast live across the country and described as "knock-down, drag-out" by the trial judge, a jury found the talk show and its distributors at least partially responsible for the death.
Attorneys for the show immediately filed an appeal, which Schnelz denied in March 2000. The show appealed again, which led to Wednesday's opinion.
Appeals Judges Richard Allen Griffin and Patrick M. Meter concluded in their nine-page opinion that Schnelz should have thrown the case out when challenged by the defendant because "the evidence failed to establish a jury question on whether it was reasonably foreseeable that Schmitz would murder Amedure as the natural and probable result of the events on the show."
Griffin and Meter described the show episode as "the epitome of bad taste and sensationalism."
In his dissent, Judge William B. Murphy said the case was properly left with the jury.
Murphy wrote that the show knew beforehand it was going to surprise Schmitz and cause some type of emotional response. It should bear the risk of such "ambush" shows.
"... the show used lies, deceit, sensationalism, and outrageous behavior, while playing with human emotions, in order to orchestrate a grand surprise for the benefit of its audience and ratings, which caused Schmitz to suffer deep embarrassment, humiliation and extreme anger," Murphy wrote.
"Taking into consideration Schmitz's personal mental frailties and dangerous inclinations, those circumstances could lead reasonable jurors to draw different conclusions as to whether it was foreseeable that Schmitz would commit an act of violence against Amedure. Therefore, resolution by a jury was appropriate."
Although the case was mediated for $3 million - which neither side accepted - Fieger said attorneys for the show never wanted to negotiate, even after the jury made its multimillion award.
"Not one dime has been offered by Warner Bros," Fieger said. "They know they'll win in court. Big corporations don't negotiate settlements anymore because they know they're going to win. ... You will lose in (appeals court) even if you are lucky enough to win in court."